General Zod
by TheBeardedOne
Summary: Patriot, Warrior, Soldier, Leader. Zod is all these things and this is his story. Prequel to The Institute Saga.
1. Cadet

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

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**Chapter One**

Cadet

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Recruit Dru-Zod stood proudly in the ranks of the graduating class. The top-ranking in the tests and exercises, his passionate devotion to Krypton had been noted by those assigned to look for such things, and his status as Class Leader merely reinforced his devotion to his homeworld.

The ranks seemed to freeze as the newly-appointed leader of the Council of Twelve, Ro-Zar, stepped up onto the podium, his eyes passing across the hundred cadets.

"You are here because you have all chosen to place yourselves between Krypton and those who may harm it." He said, his voice projected perfectly across the ceremonial hall. "_We_ are here to show our gratitude to you for your decisions, for your honour and for your sacrifice.

"You are the best of the best. You are the strongest, the fastest, the bravest. You have passed through the furnace of training and have been tempered on the anvil of tradition by the hammer of discipline. You are now the swords of Krypton and the shields of Krypton."

Zod felt a prideful smile try to spread across his face, but he forced his expression to stay blank with an iron discipline that he had instilled into himself from the day he had signed his name on the dataforms.

"As you are the best, so will you be provided with the best." Ro-Zar continued with a benevolent smile. "Despite the threats posed by the expanding Kree and Skrull Empires, and the constant warfare between them, it is those like you that let us all stand above them, separate and apart from them, superior to them.

"As I look upon you, I see the future of Krypton made possible by your protection, your courage and your honour.

"And so, I salute you.

"You who are… Our heroes!"

Ro-Zar placed his fists in front of his chest and the watching audience erupted into cheers. A slight movement caught Zod's eye and he gave a tiny nod to his old school friend Jor-El, who had followed the traditions of the House of El and entered the Path of Science. Jor-El nodded back, then his fingers twitched in the code that the two of them had developed at the Halls of Learning.

_Congratulations. Will buy you lunch later._

A quick twitch of his little finger conveyed his acceptance and then Zod turned his attention back to the podium.

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"Senior Cadet Dru-Zod." Jor-El said in the stuffiest tone of voice he could manage.

"Science Operative Level One Jor-El." Zod replied in exactly the same tone, then the two of them laughed and clapped each other on the shoulders.

"First in your class." Jor-El said with a wide grin. "By Rao, I'm impressed."

"You know that I never let myself give anything other than my best." Zod smirked back. "Was there ever any doubt?"

Jor-El frowned in obvious thought, tapping his chin.

"Very funny." Zod growled and Jor-El grinned at him.

"I thought so. So, here we are. I thought I'd treat you since you'll be living off water and ration pills for a long time."

Zod shook his head. Although he appreciated a joke on occasion, Jor-El often took it to an extreme, sacrificing dignity for cheap laughs.

Why were they friends again?

Oh yeah. The incident with the Razor-Stalker.

It's hard to face down certain death and _not_ become friends.

"What field are you currently studying?" Zod asked and Jor-El's face seemed to light up.

"Gravitonic interactions. You know the new graviton power plant that is now powering half the continent? I'm currently examining the underlying physics of it. It's already pumping out almost as much power as _five_ of the Hyper Taps, but without the potential of a resonance-induced deactivation cascade."

Zod frowned in thought as they walked towards their destination, ignoring the fare-cabs and public transport-tubes. "So, the new power plant… does not use the differential between reality planes?"

"Nope." Jor-El said, warming up to his explanation. "Rather than tapping into T-space's trans-dimensional quantum-state, it instead utilises the gravitational field of Krypton itself to generate power!"

"Sounds rather risky." Zod mused. "What effect will it have on Krypton?"

Jor-El froze for a moment. "That is… an interesting question. I'll have to ask the senior researchers and find out what the answer is."

Zod nodded, then redirected the conversation. "I have been too busy in training to keep up to date with the intersteller news. At the graduation, the Kree and Skrull were mentioned, but not the Shi'ar. Have you been keeping track?"

"Yeah, the Kree-Skrull war is still ongoing, it's getting even more vicious, in fact. Both sides are moving towards total military deployment and it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon. There was some hope at Zenn-La when the two sides united briefly against _Gah Lak Tus_, but it was too strong for them and wiped out the ships attacking it. We still don't know exactly _what_ happened to Zenn-La, the few traders who still come through reported that instead of being drained, it… vanished."

Zod stared at his friend in shock. "You mean that it's been confirmed that _Gah Lak Tus_ actually exists?"

"And apparently it has a new Herald, a silver humanoid who travels through space on a silver board, something like the wavesurfers."

"By Rao…" Zod whispered. "How do we stop something like that?"

Jor-El shrugged. "I don't know. Anyway, the Shi'ar. They're growing quite fast, subsuming other species into their Imperium. Fortunately, they seem to be expanding away from us. Dspite that, the Council has sent out orders to the Colonies to abandon their efforts to Kryptoform the planets in the sector in question and to return to Krypton and Argos."

"That seems… unwise." Zod said and Jor-El nodded.

"I'm not trained in military thinking like you are, but even to me, it seems… questionable. If we are attacked, the defensive depth the Colonies would provide could prove useful."

"Quite so." Zod agreed. "Although…"

"Although?"

For a dozen paces, Zod remained silent, then he spoke. "There were rumours at the Academy about a special project, a defensive shield that would surround the Inner System when complete. Literally millions of projectors, power relays and control nodes, all mantained and controlled by BRAINIAC."

"Benign Robotic Assistant Incorporating Nano-Infused Augmented Crystals." Jor-El laughed. "Wow, you have to wonder, did BRAINIAC's creators come up with the Acronym and then expand the name to fit it, or did they realise the original name didn't form an Acronym and modified it so that it did?"

"I do not know, nor do I care." Zod admitted as they entered the eating establishment that Jor-El had been leading them towards. "However, the shield project was apparently held back somewhat. Even with planetary-sized solar collectors providing power, it still needed a large amount of power at the control nexus on Krypton, enough that it would cause severe power shortages."

"And after the Melting City disaster three centuries ago, using solar mirrors to supply power planetside is not an option." Jor-El agreed, then he blinked. "That would explain the new power plant!"

Zod nodded as he sat down and activated the Holo-menu. "Indeed, it would also explain the precedent in abandoning the Colonies. The Council would want all Kryptonians to be protected behind the Shield. Hmmm, this looks interesting… I think I will go for the Ferrophage Mole stew with a Ari'shahallan cake to follow. The Blue Wine looks like it would work well with that."

"I'd recommend the Turqouise Wine with Ferrophage Mole." Jor-El said and Zod nodded.

"You were always the best at selecting food. Turqouise it is."

Jor-El nodded and held out his hand, allowing the scanner set into the table to read his embedded ident-crystal. "While we're waiting, which branch did you ask to serve in?"

"Patrol." Zod replied. "They are the ones that are the most advanced, technologically speaking."

"And will be on the front line should the Skrull or Kree attempt anything." Jor-El said, giving his friend a knowing look. Zod didn't even try to look innocent.

"Of course. Where else would I be? You _know_ how I prefer straight action to all that political robes-and-dagger stuff."

"Yeah, but you can be damned subtle when you have to." Jor-El fired back, his grin widening.

"And how goes your _other_ mission?" Zod enquired, mentally laughing as Jor-El's mischevious expression turned into a lovestruck one.

"Lara Lor-Van… it's going great! She actually volunteered to help with one of the projects I'm working on!"

Zod tuned out his friend's near-mindless burbling about the perfectness of the target of his affections as the food arrived. Taking a small bite of the Mole stew, he followed it with a sip of Turqoise wine and nodded.

Jor-El did indeed know his foodstuffs.

He may be a near-pacifist, but he knew his stuff.

And even pacifists could be useful.

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"Cadet Dru-Zod reporting for duty." Zod stated as he stood to attention in front of the person who would decide his future with the Patrol.

"Stand at ease, cadet." The officer behind the desk said, her fingers tapping memory-metal controls while her eyes took in the data being projected on the holoscreens. "Senior Cadet Dru-Zod. Son of former Council Member Cor-Zod, may he rest in Rao's embrace. Highest scores ever recorded in tactics and strategy, high scores in hand-to-hand combat, high scores in weapons, both melee and ranged. Superior grasp of technology... It would seem that I should be _begging_ you to join my team."

Zod remained silent and she leaned back to look at him over steepled fingers.

"So, why do you want to join Patrol? Battle Force is more… highly regarded."

"I do not care about seeking to enhance my reputation, ma'am." Zod stated. "My concern is the safety of Krypton and, in my personal opinion, I believe that I can help to protect it better by serving in Patrol."

"Continue." The officer said after a long moment.

"While I fully acknowledge that Battle Force has no equal in terms of combat capabilities, for it to be deployed properly, it needs to be informed where it must be. Patrol seeks out the places that Battle Force is needed and the places where intervention will ensure that Battle Force does not need to deploy, saving it for other uses."

"Agreed." The officer said. "You mentioned your reputation earlier."

"My friend Jor-El introduced me to the motto of the House of El. _Reputation is what is known about you by others. Honor is what is known about you by yourself_. It is the latter which is truly important."

"Interesting." The officer said, then she nodded sharply.

"Welcome to Patrol, Cadet Zod." She said with a smile. "I am assigning you to the _Golden Feather_. Report to Spacebase seventeen tomorrow at mid-day. Dismissed."

Zod snapped to attention and saluted before about-facing and marching out of the office.

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"Cadet Dru-Zod requesting permission to come aboard." Zod stated as he stood to attention just inside the entry-hatch of the _Rao's Dagger_-class patrol ship _Golden Feather_.

"Permission granted." The Captain of the _Golden Feather_ said with a slight smile and Zod's gaze took in the crest on the man's tunic. "I am Captain Hu-Ul. I believe you have met my daughter?"

"Cadet Faora-Ul?" Zod asked and received a nod in return. "I have, sir. She is very gifted in Horo-Kanu. I did not manage to defeat her in the sparring arena even once."

"I taught her." Hu-Ul said and Zod's eyes widened slightly. "I believe that all my crew should have at least _some_ training in Horo-Kanu. Once we are on patrol, I believe that I shall mentor you personally."

"Thank you sir." Zod said and Hu-Ul chuckled evilly.

"Oh, no, Cadet. You will be cursing my name and wishing for my death by the time I am through with you."

Zod gulped and Hu-Ul's evil grin turned back into a welcoming smile.

"But before then, let's get you settled in and introduced to your duties."

"Yes, sir." Zod said, slightly unnerved by the sudden changes in Hu-Ul's personality.


	2. Promotion

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

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**Chapter Two**

Promotion

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"Skrull cruiser coming around to attack profile, sir!" Zod snapped from the tactical console. "Will re-enter our firing range in two time-pieces, will have us in range in two point six!"

"And the freighter?"

"Heading for the wormhole, sir. Estimate five time-parts until it makes translocation."

Hu-Ul leaned back in his command chair, his neural interface band glowing slightly to indicate that he was communing with the ship's systems.

"Analysis of the cruiser?"

"Cruiser is showing a significant shield fluctuation on the lower port side while the starboard armaments seem to be at only sixty percent hitpower, sir."

"I'm impressed that it's held up that well." Hu-Ul commented. "Helmsman! I want an irregular spiral intercept course on the enemy warship."

"Irregular spiral intercept course, aye sir!" Ral-Dar replied from the helm.

"Weapons, take your targeting priorities from tactical."

"Aye, sir." Tal-Din replied, his own neural interface band seeming to flicker as he took the files that Zod sent to him and incorporated them into his own fireplans. A long moment passed, then the weapons of the _Golden Feather_ seemed to snarl, firing beams of plasma and condense gravitonic energy across the vacuum of space. The Cruiser didn't even have time to launch a single salvo of doomed defiance before its drive systems exploded, shredding the ship.

"Set an intercept course and let's get our people back."

"Aye, sir!" Several of the bridge crew chorused and Zod spared the astronavigational display a quick glance. On it, the symbol for the colony world of Mythrialus was blinking in red and purple, indicating that it had been damaged beyond bearing life.

"We're going to need a World Engine to put that right." Zod mused.

"That's assuming that the Council doesn't simply decide to abandon all the colonies in this sector." Hu-Ul replied and Zod blushed as he realised that he had been overheard. "Fer-Gor."

"_Yes, captain?_" A voice replied over the intercomm.

"We are going to capture a freighter that the Skrulls used to steal our people. Is your squad ready?"

"_Yes, captain, we are. Which protocol should we use?_"

"They wiped the colony to try and cover their tracks." Hu-Ul growled. "If they even _look_ like they're thinking of resisting… kill them."

"_Aye, sir._"

Zod smirked slightly, then he frowned as one of the displays in front of him flickered. Keying in an analysis request, he waited for the computers to refine the data, then he swore.

"Sir! Enemy ship launched stealth missiles at us prior to its destruction in our attack, missiles set for delayed activation! Sending data to weapons now!"

"Targets confirmed."Tal-Din said. "Re-prioritising, entering firing sequence now. Firing."

A barrage of energy fire lanced out, striking its targets and creating short-lived fireballs of expanding plasma.

"All targets reading as destroyed." Zod confirmed.

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The _Golden Feather_ looked like a minnow next to a whale as it docked to the now-disabled freighter. Hu-Ul and Zod entered the ship, to be met by Fer-Gor.

"Sir, the ship has been secured, the crew imprisoned and our people released. Repairs are underway so that we can return our people to Krypton."

"Excellent. Good job."

"Thank you sir." Fer-Gor said, and Hu-Ul looked at him curiously.

"You have something else to say?"

"One of the girls is pregnant and about to give birth, sir. Apparently a Skrull replaced her fiancee and she didn't realise. It was their discovery of his true nature that triggered the invasion."

Hu-Ul nodded slowly. "And the child…?"

"Larger than normal, by a significant amount. Preliminary scans show no sign of shapeshifter capabilities, but healing is significantly above normal. Possibility of tactile telepathy which is a good thing since his vocal cords are virtually non-existant."

"A Kryptonian/Skrull hybrid…" Hu-Ul mused. "Many would demand that he be at best exiled and at worst, terminated."

"…sir?"

"Yes, Zod? You had something to say?"

"The child's parentage is not his fault, sir, and the Skrulls were apparently using a form of memory duplication and overlay to aid their infiltration efforts, meaning that the imposters had access to all the memories of the original. This means that the girl cannot be blamed either. If no-one else will, I shall take the child under the protection of the House of Zod."

"Your offer has been noted, but I believe it will be unecessary." Hu-Ul noted. "I saw the report and she is the daughter of my sister's brother-in-law, Zan-Ek. He is honourable and I feel certain that he will allow the child to be a full member of his clan."

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"…so how is the child?" Jor-El asked curiously.

"Alive and thriving, although large." Zod said, poking at the food in front of him. "How is the Science Council responding?"

"We've managed to analyse the bio-readings of the infiltrators you captured and are building sensor arches which will be placed around important buildings." El replied. "The first one we set up caught a shifted Skrull within an hour, one of Ro-Zar's aides, if you can believe it!"

Zod whistled. "_That_ will impact his political power somewhat. Cal-Zin will be capitalising on it… why are you looking so smug?"

"There were _two_ Skrull amongst Zin's staff." El grinned, causing Zod's eyes to widen. "So, how did the rest of your first patrol go?"

"Remarkably quiet." Zod shrugged. "It was quite bizarre, according to Captain Hu-Ul. None of the sensor arrays had picked up anything in the sector…"

"Which means?" El asked as Zod trailled off.

"Which means that _something_ is up." Zod said, then he snorted as Jor-El gave him a _look_. "No, it isn't paranoia. Not even the regular Skrull patrols went through…"

"Could they have developed a new form of stealth?"

"Rao, I hope not." Zod said with an unfeigned shudder. "Those sensors were top-of-the-line when they were installed…"

"Fifty orbits ago." Jor-El pointed out. "I'll pass the word up to the Science Council. _Damn_! It _would_ explain how the infiltrators got here…"

Zod froze.

"I hope to Rao that you can get those scanners arches up as fast and widespread as possible…"

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"Ensign Dru-Zod requesting permission to come aboard." Zod stated as he stood to attention just inside the entry-hatch of the _Rao's Dagger_-class patrol ship _Golden Feather_.

"Welcome back, Ensign." Ral-Dar said, returning the salute. "The captain will be back soon."

Zod relaxed slightly and nodded to the older man.

"Any idea what's going on? I heard it was a general mobilisation."

"That it is." Dar responded, waving for Zod to follow him. "When the Science Council checked the collected data, they found that it _had_ been altered, the background readings were _too_ consistant. Somehow, the Skrull are spoofing our detection arrays and we need to find out how."

"Ouch." Zod winced. "They must have really panicked."

Dar gave him a curious look and Zod elaborated.

"Just before I returned, Jor-El mentioned that the Science Council had taken this personally and was petitioning the High Council for action to be taken. It obviously worked."

"That it did." Dar agreed. "That it did."

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The detection array was a giant, crystalline structure with delicate arms that reached out to form a globe of almost filigree-like tracery a full kilometer from thecenter. Small bumps and nodules held the shield projectors that protected it from space debris while larger shards held the robotic shardfighters which would swarm and destroy any unauthorised craft that approached too closely.

"_Move out_."

Three space-suited figures launched themselves from the starship and flew towards the sphere. Passing through the outer shield without even causing a flicker, they descended towards the core of the giant structure.

"Almost there." Zod transmitted as the central section came into view. "Looks like one of the mantainence hatches was left slightly open."

"_Say again?_" Hu-Ul asked from the bridge. "Zak-Len normally runs this sector, he wouldn't let something like that happen."

Zod frowned. "Bara-Do, Nik-To, head inside and start running the standard checklist. I'll examine the hatch."

"_Understood, sir._" "_Yes, sir._"

Zod adjusted his inertial thrusters to arc him towards the hatch, coming to a halt just aboveit. Pulling out a probe, he extended it through the small gap and keyed for a passive scan.

"Shit? Do, To! Get out of here! We have a fusion warhead active!"

Two startled cries of acknowledgement echoed across the comm system and Zod worked on decoding the information.

"Looks like a type three Skrull trap-setup."

"_We are double-checking your readings, but I concur._" Hu-Ul answered. "_I would advise not trying tomove the hatch, there is usually a motion sensor._"

Zod pulled up the plans to the control section and compared them to the readings that his probe was still sending. "Sir, I think I have an idea, but I'll need you to put the array into shut-down."

"_Then it will be off-line for half a day, even if we immediately restart it._"

"Better half a day than permanently, sir." Zod replied as he moved towards a different hatch. "Sir, I can use the plasma conduits to get behind the device and use a shaped grav-charge to destroy it."

"_Tricky… are you certain?_"

"I was Valedictorian in the demolitions course, captain. I'm sure."

"_The signal is sent, the array has started to enter shut-down. You will be clear to go in three time-pieces. May Rao smile upon you._"

Zod nodded and began to rearrange his tool harness so that the tools he would need would be easy to grab in the confined spaces. Once everything was secure, he carefully tapped in the code that opened the hatch, moving to one side to avoid the plasma that boiled out. After a short while, the plasma dissipated and Zod extended his probe again.

"Temperature is decreasing and will shortly be within suit tolerances." Zod said with a calmness he didn't feel. "Preparing to enter the plasma conduit. Will re-establish contact afterwards."

"_Confirmed. Rao-speed._"

With a grim smile, Zod activated his HUD, double-checking that the Skrull device's location had been locked in, then he lined himeslf up, his fingertips pressed against the inside of the tube. Once he could see down the long conduit, he flexed his fingers and drifted in, holding his pose like a professional diver .

As he drifted, he used light taps of his fingers and toes to keep in the center of the conduit to ensure that his equipment didn't catch any of the small protrusions housing the magnetic-field projectors which controlled and guided the plasma flow. His helmet lights lit up the tunnel, but the lack of atmosphere caused odd shadows and highly visible lines that fought to confuse his vision.

After what seemed like several hours, but which his HUD claimed was only twenty-three time-pieces, Zod reached the point where the device was mounted. Using his feet to brace himself, he slowly unhooked the shaped charge that was part of the normal space repair kit and used the chemical welding device to fuse the explosive to the side of the tunnel, checking the placement with an almost religious fervour.

Finally convinced that it was in place, Zod pushed off past the small charge, continuing down the tube until he reached an inspection hatch. Entering the code, he watched it slowly open and then swung himself through. Unhooking a small comm, he set it to transmit after a small delay and pushed it back into the conduit before hitting the close button.

"Not good." He mused as the hatch once again moved with tortuously slow speed. "Less than a quarter time-part… there!"

Pushing off against the wall, Zod grabbed the tool locker and opened it. Without even trying to be neat, he pulled out the tools inside, sending them floating across the room, then he used his molecular knife to slice the latch off, attached a pair of handgrips to the inside, on the front of the locker and inside the door, and pulled himself inside. Just as he closed the box, a flash of bright light lanced through the gap and he felt himselfslammed into the side of the locker. Only his determination and hard-earned strength kept the locker closed as it ricocheted off the walls, then the locker collided end-on with something, causing him to slam his head so hard that he knew no more.

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"…should be coming back to us now."

Zod slowly opened his eyes and the two looming shapes slowly resolved into the forms of the medic and Captain Hu-Ul.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant." Hu-ul said with a slight smile. "You had us worried for a while."

Zod blinked. "Lieutenant?"

"Field promotion for bravery." Hu-ul explained. "The damage was minimal and easily repaired, the array is up and running once again and we've relayed our findings to the Council. The Skrulls must have infiltrated out maintenance corps, we found a remote over-ride set to prevent the array from reporting Skrull activity."

"How long…"

"Four days, you took quite a bit of damage." The medic fussed. "Now, go back to sleep so you can heal."

"Agreed." Hu-Ul said. "And Zod, congratulations."


	3. Officer

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

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**Chapter Three**

Officer

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Zod smirked as his friend shifted nervously in his formal black bodysuit and high-collared red over-robes.

"Calm down, Jor-El." He said, allowing a hint of his amusement to leak through.

"How can I be calm?" Jor-El yelped. "How are _you_ so calm?"

"Because I'm not the one getting married." Zod deadpanned, earning a glare from Jor-El. "Now hold still."

Jor-El sighed and stood still as Zod examined him, twitching the robes so that the golden cord that held the front of the robes in place was aligned exactly how it should be, incidently erasing the obvious signs of Jor-El's nervousness.

"That's better." He said, glancing at the time display. "Let's go."

"I feel like a condemned man." Jor-El grumbled.

"Yes, condemned to living with a woman who adores you and is your intellectual equal, condemned to one day siring children… don't name any of them after me. I never really liked my first name."

Jor-El snorted at the comment and glanced up at the archway that they passed through, an archway that had become ubiquitous in the previous half-orbit. Several paces later, they emerged from the towering buildings into a huge ampitheatre almost half a mile across.

"Urgh, I can't believe that we have to _walk_ all that way." Jor-El moaned as they looked at the dias in the distant center.

"It is traditional." Zod reminded his frinds. "Whenever a member of one of the Councils gets married, they do so on the Altar of Rao."

"Why did I allow myself to become a Council Member again?"

"Because, like myself, you believe in doing whatever it takes to protect Krypton." Zod replied. "A perfect Krypton cannot be attained, but that should not mean that we should not do our utmost to make it better."

Jor-el _huff_ed at Zod's comment and Zod's lips twitched in a small, brief smile, earning a glowering glare, then they reached the stairs. Ascending them, they came to a halt with Jor-El standing in front of Council Leader Ro-Zar.

"She comes."

Jor-El swallowed and looked round as his wife-to-be, Lara-Van and her father, Lor-Van, entered the ampitheatre. The noise of the watchers faded away as they approached and Jor-El tugged at his collar nervously.

"Stand easy, Science Council Member." Zod whispered half-humerously, earning another _look_, but Jor-El stopped fiddling and stood straight, his eyes transfixed by the approaching beauty in her shimmering crystalline dress. Amazingly, the single lock of hair that had escaped from her elegant hairstyle to curl over her forehead somehow added to the perfection of her appearance.

"Lucky man." Zod whispered.

"I know." Jor-El replied just as quietly as Lara began to ascend to the dias. Without making a sound, she seemed to glide to the center of the dias, coming to a graceful halt just beside Zor-El. Ro-Zar smiled at them both befoe beginning to speak.

"We are gathered here in the sight of the eternal Rao to celebrate the joining of Jor-El, son of Jori-El, and Lara-Van, daughter of Lor-Van. Who stands as witness to this?"

Zod stepped forwards one pace, bracing to attention. "I, Lieutenant Dru-Zod, son of Pak-Zod, stand as witness for my friend Jor of the House of El."

"I, Lor-Van, son of Ken-Van, stand as witness for my daughter Lara of the House of Van."

Ro-Zar nodded.

"Are there any who would, before us and in the gaze of Rao, vouchsafe any truth that decries the rights of Jor of El and Lara of Van to join together?"

A long silence followed, then Ro-Zar bowed.

"Then in the name of Eternal Rao and by the authority granted unto me by the Council, I do hereby confirm the uniting of Jor of El and Lara of Van. Jor-El, Lara Van-El, you may celebrate your union."

Zod smirked as Jor-El and his new wife embraced before kissing. Glancing across, he saw Lor-Van sighing and in a burst of mischief, he decided to use a joke he had heard at Zor-El's wedding a few years back.

"Don't think of it as losing a daughter." He whispered just loud enough for Lor-Van to hear him. "Think of it as regaining a bathing room."

Lor-van started choking as he struggled not to burst into laughter whle Lara detached herself from Jor-El's lips to shoot him a look that was mingled exasperation and laughter. Ro-Zar's lips twitched briefly, showing that he had heard it as well, then the watching crowd started to cheer with approval.

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"Regaining a bathroom." Jor-El sighed, "You know that Lara isn't going to forgive you for that for a _long_ time."

"Probaly a good thing that I have an extended mission coming up." Zod smirked as he accepted a plate of snacks from a passing serving droid.

Jor-El opened his mouth to respond, then he paused and smiled.

"Zor-El, Nim-El!"

"Jor-El." The eldest brother replied with a smile."Where's your lovely wife?"

"Had to speak with her father about something." Jor-El sighed, glancing towards the corner where the love of his life was laughing at something her father had said.

"Zod!" Nim-El grinned. "Hey, can you tell me how the drive system on the _Golden Feather_ is holding up?"

Zod blinked, then a memory surfaced. "Ah yes, you were part of the team that designed it."

"Kandor Drive Systems." Nim-El started and Zod joined in.

"For when you need to get there _faster_ than fastest." They finished, grinning at each other.

"Our engineer is the one to talk to, she has tweaked it to get another four percent power out while dropping energy consumption by half a percent."

Nim-El whistled. "Wow! I'll contact her afterwards."

"I will inform her that you wish to speak to her." Zod said. "I am certain that she will want to speak to the one who designed her favourite piece of machinery."

"Sounds like a woman I can get along with." Nim-El laughed. "Thanks."

Zod smirked slightly, then nudged Jor-El.

"Incoming solar phenomenon, left side."

Confused, Jor-El followed his gaze, then his face lit up as Lara swept into his arms.

"See?" Zod said to Jor-El's two laughing brothers. "He always lights up when she is near."

"Dru-Zod?" A deep voice asked and Zod turned to see a familiar-looking man looking at him curiously. "My brother has spoken highly of you. My name is Quex-Ul."

Zod bowed. "Commander Quex-Ul, it is an honour. Captain Hu-Ul has spoken of you, but I never thought I would actually meet you."

"Zod?"

Zod turned to his friend. "Jor-El, Lara Van-El, be known to Quex-Ul, personal bodyguard of Ro-Zar and the man who took down a team of Skrull assassins by himself.

"It's an honour, sir." Jor-El said with a smile.

"I'm not a sir, I _work_ for a living." Quex-Ul mock-snarled and Lara giggled.

"My uncle says just the same thing."

"Lara!"

"Ursa!" Lara called back and Zod stared as one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen engulfed Lara in a hug. As they seperated Ursa whispered something that made Lara laugh.

"Ursa-Dru, how could you _say_ that?"

"Wow, your first name is her family name." Jor-El chuckled and Ursa glanced at Zod curiously.

"Oh? And you are?"

"Lieutenant Zod, at your service." Zod replied stoically, fighting not to stare at Ursa.

.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant." Hu-Ul said as Zod stepped onto the bridge. "I was watching the imagery of your friends wedding, I see that you met my brother."

Zod nodded. "I did, sir. He is… interesting."

"He's quite clever… for a ground-pounder." Hu-Ul agreed. "You seem… distracted… I hear that weddings are good places to meet potential life-mates."

Zod blushed slightly despite his best efforts and Hu-Ul grinned.

"I won't pry, but be warned. If you start composing bad poetry while on duty…"

Zod made a mental note to delete several files on his padd.

"So, we have a mission." Hu-Ul stated. "Our repairs and upgrades to the sensor arrays seem to have gone unnoticed by the Skrull and we have managed to intercept some of their transmissions. BRAINIAC decoded them, they are planning a raid on Krypton in an attempt to cripple our infrastructure and steal our technology to help them finish winning that war of theirs. The Council has agreed that this cannot be allowed."

"Absolutely." Zod agreed with heartfelt fevour.

"We know where their fleet is assembling and that they intend to move in twelve days." Hu-Ul added, then he grinned. "And we now have our _entire_ Battle Fleet re-activated."

Zod whistled. "You mean…"

"I do." Hu-ul confirmed. "Tomorrow, the _Golden Feather_ will dock with a type four combat attachment."

Zod's eyes widened. A Type 4 attachment would increase the firepower available to the _Golden Feather_ to over twenty times its original level. Although a Type 4 was practically a starship in its own right, it was also an almost solid mass of propulsion systems, defensive shield generators, weapons bays and sensors all arranged in eight wings that stretched forwards like claws from the main module, with no room for the crew other than maintenance accessways. The reason for the odd shape was that the starships that the modules were attached to effectively reversed into the area between the wings, allowing the tractor pads on the inside edges of the wings to lock them into place.

Zod had been curious as to the reasoning and had researched it. The actual decision had been made during the earliest days of the Krypton Defence Force with the argument that building starships optimised for combat would result in starships harder to upgrade as new technologies were created, so by placing the combat equipment in external modules, the weapons wcould be replaced easily.

Once the tradition was started, it continued until it reached the modern point where the add-on modules were effectively bridgeless starships in their own right.

"The Skrull have pulled every starship that they can spare into their assault force." Hu-Ul continued. "If we destroy even a third of their fleet, it will give the Kree a fighting chance."

"And thus divert the Skrull away from us, letting us boost our defences further." Zod noted. "Brilliant."

.

"In position and ready for docking maneuvers." Ral-Dar reported. "Requesting permission to initiate."

"Granted." Hu-Ul said and Zod concentrated on his neural feeds as the _Golden Feather_ applied a minor amount of reverse thrust.

The Type 4 attachment looming behind them was awe-inspiring, a mass of combat potential that was right on the very edge of what the _Golden Feather_'s systems could control. Despite that, it was barely more than half that of a Type 5, while the weapons of the lone Type 8 assigned to the flagship included a gravetic-plane generation array that could, literally, render a planet uninhabitable with a single shot.

No wonder the Skrull wanted to get their hands on them.

"Aren't the Skrull going to get a nasty shock when they see the Kryptonian Battle Fleet coming." Ral-Dar snorted.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Hu-Ul admitted. "They want our weapons, they can come and get them."

Zod paused. "That sounded like a quote, sir, but I don't quite recognise it."

"The battle of Shatterrock Pass three centuries before Unification, I believe." Tal-Din said, glancing at Hu-Ul who simply nodded and motioned for him to continue. "The Dax-Ata Tryanny tried to launch a surprise attack against the Dal-Tarra Republic, only for their force to be met by The Seventy-Nine in Shatterock Pass. When they commanded the defenders to hand over their weapons, their leader is reputed to have said '_Come get them_'."

"I… remember now." Zod said slowly. "They'd planted explosives in the sides of the pass and when the last of them fell, it triggered the trap and caused a landslide that wiped out the Dax-Ata Elites."

"Very good." Hu-Ul said in satisfaction.

"An excellent example, but one I hope we don't have to follow." Zod said. "I for one would prefer to return in triumph."

"As would we all." Hu-Ul laughed. "Us would we all."

"Attachment confirmed." Ral-Dar reported and Zod quickly triggered a systems check. A few seconds later, the results flashed up before him.

"All system links are confirmed, dataflow is currently at optimal."

"Excellent." Hu-Ul said with a feral grin. "Dar, take us to the Fleet."

"Laying in the course now, sir."


	4. Veteran

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

.

**Chapter Four**

Veteran

.

"Exiting super-luminal travel in ten." Zod said. "All systems at full efficiency."

"Excellent." Hu-Ul said. "Shields to combat settings, charge weapons."

"Shields at combat, weapons charging." Tal-Din reported.

"Going sublight." Ral-Dar reported and the streaks of light on the main screen resolved into pinpricks of light.

"Linking to fleet datanetwork, BRAINIAC Linked Intersteller Tactical Enhancer has initiated connection protocols." Zod announced. "Sensor feed to flagship is established… tactical feed accepted from _Rao's Radience_."

"Ceding maneuvering control to flagship." Ral-Dar added.

"Primary targeting systems linked to flagship, secondary weapons remaining under shipboard control. Over-rides in place."

"BRAINIAC LITE." Hu-Ul snorted. "I wonder who came up with _that_ one."

"We're moving, sir." "Ral-Dar noted.

"Holographic display." Hu-Ul ordered and Zod tapped several controls, activating the ceiling-mounted projector even as he darkened the lights of the bridge. An instant later, a spherical tactical readout materialised stretching almost from the deck to the ceiling, showing the fleet with the _Rao's Radience_ in the center and a flashing light in one of the secondary triangular formations surrounding it.

"I assume that the flashing light is us?" Ral-Dar asked and Zod nodded.

"It is. Hold on… got it!"

The plot seemed to shrink slightly as a second, smaller sphere formed, this one centered on the symbol of the _Golden Feather_ and its combat attachment. The other six ships in the chevron formation all had the same symbol, but weren't pulsing.

"Enemy fleet has been located." Zod announced, opening a third plot which showed the semi-chaotic Skrull fleet, obviously trying to respond to the changed tactical situation. "…looks like these ships were meant to link to our Attachments and drag them away."

"_**an excellent deduction, dru-zod. the probablility that you are correct is in excess of point nine seven. tactical priorities have been adjusted accordingly **_"

Zod nodded as the voice of BRAINIAC finished speaking.

"So we know _how_ they were planning to steal our technology… BRAINIAC!"

"_**online**_"

"If they've been interfering with our sensor arrays, they've probably copied them!"

"_**sensor emissions confirm your hypothesis. the possibility had already been calculated for**_"

Zod looked down in embarrasment.

"Don't worry about it, Zod." Hu-Ul said reassuringly. "It was a good thought, only someone else had it first."

Zod nodded slowly.

"_**combat will commence in two time-parts**_"

.

Zod watched in are as the first massed salvo, timed by BRAINIAC with exquisite precision, slashed deeply into the Skrull fleet, transforming dozens of warships into little more than vapour. The vibrations of the drive system were detectable as the _Golden Feather_ and its escorts hurled themselves into evasive maneuvers to dodge the return fire, breaking and reforming formation in a manner that would have been impossible for any merely organic pilots.

"Amazing." Hu-Ul breathed in awe as a second salvo erupted into the panicking Skrull ships. "You know, it's things like this that show us how advanced we are compared to anyone else."

"Indeed." Zod agreed, pride welling up in his chest. "And with all these ships destroyed, the Skrull will be too busy fighting off the Kree to try to target us again. Do we know how much of our technology they stole?"

"Apparently, it was mainly sensor and advanced medical technology." Hu-Ul noted as the _third_ salvo slammed into the severely-reduced fleet that was trying to flee.

"_Advanced_ medical technology?" Zod said in near-shock. "I _don't_ like the sound of _that_! Incoming fire!"

"BRAINIAC is already initiating evasive maneuvers." Ral-Dar reported.

"Using secondaries." Tal-Din added and the weapons snarled as they swatted the incoming missiles, turning them from explosive homing projectiles to clouds of dissipating plasma.

"Kree scoutship at system negative polar position." Zod reported. "BRAINIAC is establishing comm-link, sending a message."

"Let me hear it." Hu-Ul commanded and Zod pulled up the file, sending it to the bridge speakers.

"_**this is BRAINIAC of krypton to unidentified kree scout vessel. the skrull fleet intended to launch a raid on krypton, this could not be allowed to occur. krypton will not move against the kree empire for so long as the kree empire takes no action against krypton or its colonies**_"

"_Acknowledged. Your message will be relayed to the Supreme Intelligence."_

"Rational aliens." Hu-Ul scoffed. "Who knew?"

"Statistically speaking, it had to happen at some point." Zod half-joked, earning a quick smile, then he glanced at his displays. "Skrull fleet at twenty percent of original numbers and decreasing. No losses on our side, minor damage to five vessels, cosmetic damage only to another seven."

"Excellent." Hu-Ul smirked. "Today, they learn who the _true_ power in space is."

"I couldn't agree more, sir." Zod said, sharing the smirk. "I couldn't agree more."

.

The cheering of the crowds was almost deafening as the crews of the ships marched towards the Altar of Rao where the Council was waiting. Zod kept his expression emotionless as he marched in unison with the rest of the crew of the _Golden Feather_, the walls of the skyscrapers rising like the cliffs of a cavern. The echoing cheers and applause suddenly seemed to go almost silent as they emerged into the amphitheatre and Zod followed his captain to stand in formation with the other forty members of the ship's crew (of whom two dozen were marines).

On the raised platform, Ro-Zar stepped forwards to the podium and looked down at them proudly before raising his hands for silence.

"People of Krypton." He said, his voice amplified to carry to everyone watching. "We are here to celebrate a great triumph won by these whom you see before you now. These, our naval forces who set forth to do combat with the forces of the Skrull Imperium, forces which had assembled to launch a raid intended to seize our ships, our technology and our resources.

"Our valiant forces caught the Skrull Armada by surprise and struck them down, defeating them… no, _destroying_ their forces for only a few minor injuries in return. Of over five hundred Skrull ships that had been assembled for their invasion, only a bare fifteen managed to escape, bearing word of our displeasure back to their Emperor."

Ro-Zar paused as a rolling tunder of applause swept across the Altar of Rao, applause that he let continue for a while before holding his hands up to call for silence once again.

"Although all of our people who ventured forth are to be revered, several stood out even from them."

Zod zoned out as he saw Ursa-Dru standing to one side of the stage, her eyes fixed on him and her fingers moving in the sign language that he and Jor-El had created long ago.

_Meet me after, have own house. Am not wearing underclothes. Will prove it._

Only his incredible self-control prevented Zod from blushing furiously at that and he mentally cursed his position in the middle of the massed ranks as there was no way that he could reply.

_Loved your poetry. Very moving. Hidden depths. Looking forwards to…_

Zod promptly concentrated as hard as he could on controlling his expression as Ursa-Dru continued to send promises of how she would celebrate with him, then he heard his name spoken.

"…Lieutenant Dru-Zod for his demonstration of analysing enemy eqipment and deducing their plans and capabilities…"

Zod's attention was forcibly returned to Ursa as she made a new set of finger-twitches.

_I am proud of you._

Despite all that he could do, a small smile spread across Zod's face.

.

"Lieutenant Dru-Zod." Jor-El said in the stuffiest tone of voice he could manage.

"Science Council Member Jor-El, Science Operative Level Twelve Lara Van-El." Zod replied in exactly the same tone, then the three of them laughed as Ursa joined them.

"I made a reservation at the Crystal Spire, if you'd both like to join us."

"If Zod is coming, then I'd be delighted to." Ursa said as she snuggled against Zod, kissing him on his cheek.

"I would be honoured." Zod said with a slight smile as he glanced at the slightly-shorter Kryptonian who had managed to arrange things so that his arm was wrapped around her without him noticing.

"The least we can do for one of our great heroes." Jor-El laughed as he hailed a skycab.

Zod carefully helped Ursa into the passenger compartment but when he sat down, she promptly shifted into his lap.

"Excellent idea." Lara laughed as she mirrored Ursa's move, positioning herself in her husband's lap.

"I hear that you are considering moving to Kaldran soon."

"My job is taking me there." Ursa sighed, then she grinned. "And there is a spaceport near by which acts as a patrol hub."

"I have been told that I may soon be promoted to Commander and given my own patrol ship." Zod said as Ursa buried her head into the crook of his neck. "I am fairly certain that I can get myself assigned to that sector."

"Well, remember to send us an invite to your wedding when you finally get round to it." Jor-El smiled, then he carefully lifted Lara off his lap as the aircar touched down on a landing pad. "We're here."

"We are indeed." Zod agreed as he rose, tucking Ursa's hand into his elbow. "I just hope the food is edible."

Jor-El stared at him for a long moment, then burst out laughing.

.

"That was a good meal." Ursa sighed as she led Zod into her flat. Zod gazed round appreciatively.

"Three floors…"

"I like my space." Ursa explained as she shed her over-robes and flung them to the waiting robot that was floating nearby. Zod's gaze was drawn to her shapely figure and he blushed as he realised that she was watching him watch her.

Zod looked around again and he blinked as he realised that part of the reason that the flat seemed so large was how uncluttered it was. The general stereotype of someone who lived in the Inner Ring of Kryptonopolis was that of wealthy packrats who covered every wall with display cabinets and had dozens of tables crammed with valuable nick-nacks. Ursa's flat was minimalistic by comparison with white walls upon which artworks were projected, comfortable couches strategically placed in the corners and flooring made from native woods fitted so tightly that not even a utility blade would be able to slide between them.

"Impressive." Zod allowed and Ursa's laugh seemed to tinkle through the main room.

"At least you now know that I'm not after you for your money." Ursa smiled as she re-emerged from the kitchen, a steaming mug in each hand.

"Charla-brew?" She asked and Zod accepted the proffered mug, taking an appreciative sip.

"This is _good_." He admitted. "On my ship, the stuff we have is _called_ Charla-brew, but…"

Ursa laughed as she sat down and motioned for Zod to sit beside her. "Is it really that bad?"

"I have heard that it's made from distilled lubricants and medical stimulants." Zod said, causing Ursa to sputter as she was drinking at the time. "I haven't come across anything to disprove that theory."

"Oh, how awful!" Ursa laughed. "I _have_ to try some, just to see if it's as bad as you say."

"I wouldn't." Zod deadpanned. "Rumour has it that the Council is considering classifying it as cruel and unusual punishment."

Ursa almost dropped her mug due to laughing too hard and Zod quickly rescued it, placing it on the small table in front of them.

"Oh, oh, oh my." She gasped as she slowly recovered. "Oh, please tell me you're not serious."

"Ser-Yrus? I think he works in…"

Zod started before Ursa placed her fist on his shoulder and pushed him.

"You know what I mean."

"I do." Zod agreed. "I apologise, my sense of humour is rather unpredictable. Even to me."

Ursa shook her head as she picked up her drink and took a sip, then she made a face. "Bleurgh. It's too cold. I'll just get a refill from the pot."

Zod watched appreciatively as she walked to the kitchen, then she turned to look at him and smiled flirtatiously.

"Do you want something warm as well?"


	5. Flight Leader

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

.

**Chapter Five**

Flight Leader

.

"Commander Zod, reporting as ordered, ma'am." Zod said as he braced to attention in front of the desk. Behind it, the scarred Admiral leaned back and looked at him over steepled fingers.

"Well, you're not what I expected." She said after several long minutes. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Only rumours and hints, ma'am." Zod replied, not shifting his gaze from a point a bare handspan above her head. "Nothing ceramacrete or official."

"Interesting." Admiral Zil-Kan mused. "One of your recommendations caught my eye."

Zod ruthlessly suppressed any urge to comment on the fact that Zil-Kan's left eye was a prosthetic that glowed pale blue.

"I have used quite a few favours to start up the project. I summoned you here because as the one who came up with the idea, you are the one I can count on to try his hardest to make it work."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Familiarise yourself with this file." Zil-Kan said, pushing a datacrystal forwards. "You are taking up your position tomorrow and giving the introductory talk to the other recruits on Project Kanu. Where did you get the name from, anyway?"

"A martial art named Horo-Kanu, ma'am." Zod replied. "I trained in it under Captain Hu-Ul and have sparred against his daughter, Faora-Ul, who was learning it from when she could walk. I have yet to even manage to hold her to a draw."

"I see." Zil-Kan nodded. "Very well, dismissed."

.

Zod looked up from the notes on his podium as the last of the recruits assigned to Project Kanu walked into the briefing hall and sat down. Giving them a couple more minutes to get comfortable, Zod triggered the lights, darkening the hall while switching on the spotlight that illuminated him in a cone of light.

"Welcome to Project Kanu." He said, his voice amplified slightly so that everyone could hear it. "It is my hope that what we embark upon today will change the way war is fought."

A hologram materialised showing a starship different from anything in the Kryptonian Starfleet. Although it still had the rounded outer case, the front of the hull was a transparent dome within which a shaped seat was centered, one holding the pilot in a semi-reclined yet nearly upright position. The hull curved back into a short cylinder which flared out into an engine array.

Three wings jutted forwards like claws holding the hull, aligned so that the craft could land on the lower two wings. Between each pair of wings was mounted a weapons pod on an actuator that allowed it to extend to get a full hemisphere of fire without risking shooting the wings. The wings themselved boasted a cannon running along the inner edge while six recessions in the hull around the cockpit marked other weapons.

"This is the _Rao's Dart_-class one-person spacefighter." Zod said. "Powered by a crystal degredation reactor, it can run for a quarter-orbit before needing to refuel. Primary weapons are three energy-lance projectors and six missile launchers with a magazine of four missiles per launcher. The secondary weapons are the three turrets which have rapid-fire tri-barrel energy blasters. Although optimised for anti-missile duties, they can be used in conjunction with the primary weapons for extra offensive power."

The hologram of the fighter activated each weapon as Zod described them.

"A small ventral bay allows for a variable kinetic delivery payload ranging from unguided bombs to targeted munitions. Cargo drops can also be performed, but space is rather limited.

"The whole ship is controlled by a single pilot, aided by a dedicated neural-augmentation system. The secondary weapons have their own quasi-sentient control units for independent defensive targeting, but can be over-ridden at any time."

"The drive system used is a derivative of the missile drive units. Although this imposes very tight limits on the size and mass of the fighter, it has a maximum sustainable speed five times faster than a scout ship, almost half that of a capital ship missile. It has a maneuverability rating of four-sevenths of a counter-missile, making it the most agile manned ship in space.

"And you get to fly it."

The silence was profound and almost hungry.

"All of you have tested very high in spatial awareness and kinaesthetic capabilities. This ship is designed to allow you to fly to your very limits in defense of Krypton and its colonies and you _will_ fly to your limits and even beyond as we prove that the _Rao's Dart_s will change the paradigm of combat forever.

"Welcome to Project Kanu."

.

"_Three, you're drifting._" Faora-Ul's voice cracked across the comm system and Zod smirked slightly as the pilot in question quickly slid back into his assigned position. Rolling for a better view, Zod watched as the second squadron raced past, threading almost effortlessly through the holographic gates while each flight mantained its finger-four formation. As they vanished from sight, Zod turned his attention to the other training area where his own squadron were taking it in turns to fly through the individual course, spiralling and twisting through a series of gates that got progressively smaller until they were barely larger than the craft passing through them.

A beep caught his attention and he frowned as a message came up on his screen.

"This is Zod. A terrorist group has attacked Argo City and caused considerable casualties. Local law enforcers cannot stop them, they are too heavily armed. The local army is moving to intercept but will need air support. Form up on me, switch to combat mode and move out."

Changing course, Zod accelerated to three-quarters of maximum, keeping an eye on the sensors that showed his squadron moving to form up on him while in the distance, Faora's squadron simply changed course and went to max acceleration as they swung towards Argo. Zod keyed his comm for a private channel.

"Faora, your squadron will get there first, I want a full sensor sweep but do _not_ engage unless fired upon."

"_Full sensor sweep, confirmed._" Faora responded and Zod frowned, looking ahead at the shrinking squadron, then he switched to a different frequency.

"Finish forming up and prepare to go to max accel on my mark." He ordered. "Three hand formation."

As the replies rippled back across the com-link, Zod watched the flashes of light that indicated that Faora's squadron had reached the outer reaches of Argo's atmosphere. A moment later, one of his secondary screens changed, showing that Faora had remembered to key him into the sensor take of her squadron.

"_Flight Commander, the Army has sent us the suspected location of the terrorist forces. I am splitting my squadron into wingpairs to do a high-speed scanning run._"

"Understood, Lieutenant." Zod replied as the first traces of atmosphere started to coruscate against his shields. "Remember to expect hostile fire."

"_Hostile fire expected, secondaries to point-defence mode._" Faora responded and Zod nodded in approval.

"Good. Report once you start your run."

"_Yes, sir."_

.

"_Approaching target zone."_ Faora reported and Zod shifted part of his attention to the readout screen even as he adjusted his course slightly.

"Confirmed. We will be there as you come around."

"_I got… Holy Rao! Dodge!"_

The view on the screen seemed to whirl as Faora hurled her starfighter into a wild spin to avoid the massive salvo of missiles headed towards her. The point-defence lasers of her squadron went to rapid-fire, each shot taking down a missile, but there were just too many. Three of her squadron's ships disintigrated under the impacts and four more, including Faora's, descended rapidly, too damaged to fly.

"Squadron two!" Zod barked. "Disengage and go low, terrain following until you're out of range, then form up. Squadron one, arm missiles, I am relaying targets now!"

Zod quickly sent the targeting priorities to his squadron as they drew closer to the protective umbrella of the terrorist groups missile launchers.

"First salvo, launch!"

Seventy-two missiles raced forwards, spreading out to destroy their designated targets and a barrage of smaller missiles rose to meet them. Although almost a third of the larger missiles were destroyed, fifty-one made it through and slammed into the ground around the main body of the group, wiping out their patrols and inflicting serious injuries. An instant later, the survivors turned and fled.

Zod frowned, the realisation dawned. They weren't _fleeing_, they were _attacking_ those pursuing them.

And he could see Faora's starfighter lying in their path, with Faora slowly dragging herself away from the wreckage.

"Flight two, strafe the left flank!" Zod snapped as his mind whirred through dozens of tactics. "Flight three, strafe the right. Two, follow me. Three, four, climb and provide top cover!"

Even as the orders were being acknowledged, Zod rolled his craft, putting it into a steep dive and switching the modes on the secondary turrets. Hitting the retro-thrusters, Zod came to a halt a bare three meters above Faora and his energy cannons spat plasma-death at the attackers, sending the front ranks flying in showers of blue blood.

Zod frowned. _Blue_ blood?

That meant Kree.

How in Rao's name had Kree managed to infiltrate the home system?

.

"A deep-space wormhole not associated with a star system?" Zod repeated in near-shock and Jor-El nodded.

"I know. It invalidates over two-thirds of our theories about how they are formed and behave, but from the interrogation transcripts of the survivors… not that you left that many, mind…"

Zod tried and failed to look innocent.

"We know _that_ the wormhole exists and it's somewhere inside the inner detection shell, but we have no idea _where_ it is."

"Damn." Zod swore. "But how could the Kree launch a raid like… oh Rao. It's because we wiped out that Skrull fleet, isn't it."

Jor-El nodded. "Apparently the Kree Supreme Intelligence was rather put out that we had such powerful weapons and the Kree did not, so instead of finishing off the Skrull after our strike, it instead decided to launch a raid to secure as much technology as possible while the Skrull were trying to recover."

"Damn." Zod swore, picking up his fork and poking at the food in front of him. "Is there a single _rational_ species out there? Will the Shi-ar try to pick a fight with us next?"

"Rao, I hope not." Jor-El sighed. "If they do, and if they join the Kree and Skrull… we could be in trouble."

Zod nodded slowly. "Agreed. Even the greatest warrior can be swarmed by lesser fighters."

Jor-El suddenly grinned and Zod glared at him.

"Not. One. Word."

"What?" Jor-El asked with a wry smile. "Project _Darts of Rao_ proved the concept…"

Zod sighed and Jor-El took pity on him.

"With regards to the other issue, BRAINIAC denies that there is a problem with the core."

"And if BRAINIAC says it, then it is true." Zod agreed, then he paused, looking at Jor-El's expression. "Or is BRAINIAC mistaken?"

"I think it is." Jor-El said soberly. "I'm still running tests, but if I'm right… well, I just hope that I'm wrong."

Zod pondered the situation, then gave a slight nod.

"My squadrons will be part of the retaliation strike against the Kree but afterwards, I will confer with my lieutenant. If you can prove that the core is destabilising, but cannot find a solution, then we will need some way to evacuate the entire planet."

"Rao's teeth!" Jor-El swore. "You don't think small, do you? What are you thinking, turning the cities into spaceships?"

"That is a… very interesting idea." Zod said. "Obviously the newer cities like Kandor would be easier to convert… Maybe if I pitched it as a last-case evacuation procedure… perhaps in response to the possibility of the Shi-ar leading the other two empires against us…"

"I'll work on it on my end as well." Jor-El replied. "Maybe I can find a way to stabilise the core."

"Assuming that it _is_ destabilising." Zod noted and Jor-El nodded.

"The data is still tentative but… I get the feeling that it is. And it worries me. I want my son to be able to live."

"Your son?"

Jor-El grinned. "Lara's pregnant!"

"Congratulations!" Zod laughed. "Let us hope he inherits your bravery, your determination, Lara's brains and her looks."

Jor-El tried and failed to look affronted while he laughed along with his friend. "I'll tell her you said that, Zod. Of course, it'll only reinforce her decision."

"Oh?"

"She wants you to be his guardian if anything happens to us."

Zod froze, then he gve a deep nod that was almost a bow. "That is a very great honour you bestow on me, my friend, and one I pray will never be needed."

"I know." Jor-El said quietly. "I do as well."


	6. Rear Echelon

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

.

**Chapter Six**

Rear Echelon

.

"Commodore Zod reporting, sir." Zod saluted and the man behind the desk looked up.

"Take a seat, Commodore."

"Thank you, Admiral."

"Your project has proven to be most impressive." The Admiral continued. "By integrating the squadrons of dartfighters into pre-existing fleets, the effective combat power of them has been increased by a very considerable amount as proven by how they helped to repell the most recent attempted raids by the Skrull and the Kree.

"Your insistence that these new craft should augment, rather than supplant, our existing ships was inspired, Commodore."

"Thank you, Admiral." Zod replied, earning a brusque nod.

"However, adding a new type of ship and the associated personnel requirements has led to some… issues. Since you have demonstrated a knack of non-traditional yet effective thinking, we are promoting and reassigning you…"

.

"I'm a REBB." Zod grumbled and Ursa gave him an odd look.

"I thought I knew all of the ranks, but… what's a web?"

"R. E. B. B." Zod spelled out. "Rear Echelon Bloody Bastard. The person who sends others into screwed up situations because they didn't read the reports correctly. I've spent half my career hating them, and now I _am_ one."

Ursa laughed as she pulled Zod onto a sofa and planted herself on his lap.

"Oh, stop pouting. Where did you end up?"

"I'm in the Bureau of System Defense. I'm being reassigned to Kandor." Zod growled and Ursa raised an eyebrow.

"So… you're moving?"

"I am." Zod agreed and Ursa smiled.

"I was getting bored of this place, so I'll come with you."

"Are… you sure?" Zod asked. "Your job…"

"When I tell them why, they'll agree to my move." Ursa purred as she snuggled against him. "You have no idea just how much extra business we've gained from having me seen on your arm. And believe me, it's a wonderful arm to be on."

Zod chuckled as he kissed Ursa's forehead, covertly pulling a small box out of his belt as he did so.

"Since we are going to go to Kandor, my beloved, may I ask for a favour?"

Ursa let herself be moved off his lap as he stood. "Well, I don't know. Will I get my comfy cushion back?"

"That and more." Zod said as he bowed deepy, the open box in his hands. "Ursa-Dru, daughter of the House of Dru, may I ask for your presence in the House of Zod?"

With shaking hands, Ursa reached into the box and picked up the small shield inside, a shield which, in line with tradition, had been hand-carved by Zod himself. The golden rim and the styalised hunting curve-blade were applied flawlessly over the double-layer of hermetically-sealed diamond, allowing the red of the blood sandwiched between them to be seen.

For a long moment, Ursa remained motionless, then she hurled herself forwards, catching Zod in a rib-cracking hug which sent them both to the floor.

"Is… that a… yes?" Zod managed to laugh, despite the lack of air.

.

"You _finally_ proposed to her?"

Zod gave a half-amused, half-irritated glare at his friend who had met him at the spaceport to help him move his things to his new apartment, one that he and Ursa were going to share.

"Yes, Jor-El, I did."

"And she said yes?"

"That would be an accurate summation, yes."

Jor-El paused and clapped his hand on Zod's shoulder.

"Congratulations. Will you need a Witness?"

"It would be appreciated." Zod admitted, then he glanced round. "How goes… _the project_…"

"Bad." Jor-El admitted. "I've re-checked the maths… had Lara re-check it as well. The core is becoming less stable, despite what BRAINIAC says. I just don't understand it…"

"Then my promotion came at an useful time." Zod mused. "I am meeting with my aides shortly, but I have been looking at the bubble-drive specs."

"What?" Jor-El asked in surprise. "That's a dead-end technology. If you try to fit combat-rated shields, it collapses the bubble and the bubble walls themselves are barely civilian-plus-level, plus the whole thing is far slower than our normal reality-drives."

"But the upper limit is far, far higher than anything else." Zod said with a smirk.

"So?" Jor-El asked in confused exasperation. "What are you planning to do? Bubble the cities and… by Rao… really?"

"We cannot create energy shields in the atmosphere to protect our cities, but putting a Bubble Drive system in will let us create a dome that can deflect falling debris and medium-powered energy bolts, thus giving our cities an extra layer of protection." Zod gloated. "The fact that should Krypton destabilise, we can simply _fly_ the cities away to a new world…"

"By Rao…" Jor-El whispered in admiration. "That… that's incredible…"

"I will oversee its installation on Kandor first." Zod mused. "Once the Council has seen the protection it can offer, I have no doubt that they will authorise it for the other cities."

"That's brilliant, Zod." Jor-El said in awe. "Just… brilliant."

.

**monitoring program xr33905zag report indicates high probablility that resources required for completion of preservation program will be diverted. calculating optimal counter-strategy… individual dru-zod classified threat to continued operation of BRAINIAC… analysis of council indicates high probability of resource reallocation upon request of dru-zod after first successful test of pseudo-defense system…**

**conclusion – defence system must not be successfully demonstrated…**

**alert – core programming forbids active termination of kryptonian citizens…**

**accessing all files on non-kryptonian technology…**

**file mse-1977/m19-2012 analysed…**

**calculating solution…**

.

Zod stood before the Council of Defence, his back to the holodisplay that he was using to show his proposed project. A smaller holodisplay before him allowed him to use his neural feeds to manipulate the images.

"…and although we have defeated both the Skrull and the Kree, the Shi'ar still remain a cause for concern, especially with the formation of their powered elite unit, the Imperial Guard. Although it is officially designated as the personal bodyguard unit of the Emperor of the Shi'ar, the sheer amount of power represented by this unit equates to one of our secondary fleets. Their leader, the Strontian Kallark, developed his powers through his devotion to the Shi'ar Empire and can conceivably match one of our type 6 combat attachments."

A muttering passed through the Council at that and Zod activated the next series of images, showing specially-selected pictures of the known Imperial Guard with floating tags identifying their species, known powers and other information.

"It is worth noting that there is a Kree amongst the Imperial Guard, as well as a Skrull. The one known as Commando is a Kree Super-soldier called M-Nel while Shifter, although he is publicly identified as a Chameloid, is actually a Skrull.

"The presence of these two representatives of the warring races suggests that not only are the Shi'ar keeping diplomatic links open with them, but that they may enter into a military alliance with one or both.

"Even our Fleet would find it difficult to defend us against all three Imperiums at once."

The whispering amongst the Council intensified before one of the cowled figures leaned forwards.

"And what do you propose we do?"

"We increase our defences." Zod stated. "Berely a month ago, the last colonist returned to Krypton and BRAINIAC has declared that the Shield will be operational within an orbit.

"However, a single layer of defence, however strong, becomes almost useless if breached.

"I propose the following. First, additional weapon satellites placed into the Shield so that any enemy must battle rather than simply float just outside the shield and fire at it with impunity.

"Secondly, the creation of a military base in orbit around Rao, but on the far side. This will grant us faster response times to the areas of the Shield furthest away from Krypton. It will also give us somewhere save to store our less… stable weaponry.

"Third, a type of shield developed by a team led by my friend Jor-El can be deployed to protect our cities from any falling debris or accidental energy strikes. We have a prototype already which I would recommend be placed around Kandor."

The Council conferred once again before a different member spoke.

"Your ideas will be discussed, General. You are dismissed."

Zod snapped to attention. "For Rao and Krypton."

"For Rao and Krypton."

.

"How did it go, sir?" Lieutenant Faora asked and Zod gave a small smile.

"The Council of Defence has given its approval to installing the first shield." Zod said, then he lookied up with a smile as a hulking figure approached.

"Ensign Nam-Ek. You have grown since I saw you last."

Thegiant half-Kryptonian nodded, then held out one fist. Zod reached out and placed his own fist against it.

_=#Thank you, sir. It is a great honour to be working for the one who offered to take me into his clan.#=_ Nam-Ek's mental voice sounded.

"No thanks are needed, Nam-Ek." Zod replied. "You are settling into your new duties well?"

_=#I am, sir. Lieutenant Faora-Ul has taken me under her wing, that I may learn to serve Krypton to the best of my ability.#=_

"Excellent." Zod agreed and Nam-Ek pulled his fist back before bowing. "Lieutenant, anything that I need to know?"

"Not at the moment, sir." Faora said, briefly glancing at her datapad. "It looks like all the e-forms have been signed and sent."

"Thank Rao." Zod sighed. "I _hate_ bureaucracy."

"You're not the only one, sir." Raora agreed, causing both Zod and Nam-Ek to smirk at her heartfelt tone.

.

**subject zod has initiated shielding project**

**work orders being modified for countermove**

**probability of preservation programme completion currently point nine six two four three seven**

**analysis of probable outcomes indicates previously unnoticed possibility of increasing percentage of kryptonian data…**

**analysing…**

.

"And… done." Faora said as she crawled out of the small crawlspace, one hand trying to wipe the lubricant from her forehead and only succeeding in making the stain bigger. "Final bit installed, sir."

A clanking noise echoed and Zod crouched, reaching in. A pair of hands grabbed his and he leaned back, pulling Nam-Ek out.

"Sorry to do that to you, but your strength was needed." Zod shrugged.

_=#Not a problem, sir. It needed doing and I was honoured to help out.#=_

Zod helped to re-seat the access panel and then stood back with a grin.

"I still can't believe that none of our people were trained in this stuff." Faora grumbled. "It's only two tech-generations old, for Rao's sake. I mean, what _are_ the chances?"

"At least we only had to deal with the most important parts." Zod pointed out, glancing at the curving line of relay boosters that arced towards the horizon, enclosing the entire city in a circle that would take several days to walk. "So, start up the automated system checks and let's hope we don't have any loose connections this time."

Faora keyed in a command on her datapad, then nodded. "It'll take a few hours, sir."

"Then let's log out and head home." Zod commanded with a smile. Nam-Ek made a few flashing hand-signs and Zod glared at him. "I should never have taught you that method."

"It is faster and more efficient than Kryptonian Hand Signing." Faora noted. "What did you and Jor-El end up calling it, anway?"

"We didn't." Zod shrugged. "I wonder… what would you call it?"

"The Hand of Zod?" Faora offered, giving an apologetic shrug when Zod glared at her, although her grin didn't diminish in the slightest.

.

"Zod!" Ursa laughed in greeting as she pressed a glass of wine into his hand. Zod blinked as the door closed behind him.

"Ursa… not that I'm complaining, but…"

"Lara just contacted me!" Ursa half-sang. "I'm an auntie and we have a wonderful new nephew!"

Zod's eyes widened. "What? When? How?"

"He's a little boy called Kal-El and when was only a few time-pieces ago. As for how, well, when a man and a woman love each other ve-eeeek! Stop that, you… brute!"

Zod lowered Ursa back to the ground, taking the opportunity to kiss her.

"I will have to comm Jor-El and give him my regards."

"He and Lara are staying at the family estate." Ursa said, glancing out of the window and across the cityscape of Kandor. "Once you have this project of yours demonstrated, perhaps we can visit?"

"I would like that." Zod agreed.


	7. Traitor

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

.

**Chapter Seven**

Traitor

.

Ro-Zar looked at the line of projection relays that were stretching off in both directions, the curve of their spacing mathematically perfect.

"So, these will create a shield?"

"One that will increase the protection of Kandor, Council Leader." Zod said respectfully.

Ro-Zar nodded thoughtfully, then glanced at where the rest of the Council had congregated. "Several of the Council are getting rather… nervous about you, General."

Zod blinked. "Sire?"

"The fighters were one thing, but you have made many connections and are the friend of the leader of the Science Council, as well as being on the shortlist to become a Council Member yourself."

Zod blinked again. He had been unaware of that.

"Some of them claim that you are a threat to the peace with your determination to keep the military at its current strength."

Ro-Zar paused, looking at Zod.

"Sire, I have studied history and every occasion when a land has chosen to stand purely on defense or to reduce its armed forces below the minimum needed for security, that land has fallen. I do not wish this to happen to Krypton. I am proud to be of Krypton and as long as I draw breath, Krypton will not fall. I stand guard against all enemies, I can do no less."

Ro-Zar smiled as a sentry-drone drifted by overhead. "I am pleased to hear that, General."

"Thank you, Council Leader." Zod said. "If you will pardon me, I would like to do a final sensor check before we test the shield."

"Of course, General."

Zod bowed as Ro-Zar turned his attention back to the line of shield relays, then he frowned as he looked up. There were far more drones protecting the Council than usual, and quite a few of them were marked not with the symbol of the Kryptonian Defence Force, but with the symbol of the House of Zod. Walking over to his personal _Dart _, he strapped himself in and donned the circlet, only for it to remain inactive.

"What is going on?" He muttered as he started to key for a systems diagnostic, then his primary holographic screen lit up with a familiar symbol.

Three dots in a downwards-pointing triangle, connected by two lines.

"BRAINIAC!" Zod realised. "What are you doing?"

"**your project is diverting resources needed for the preservation of this unit**" BRAINIAC droned. "**orders have been sent out in your name and your allies are being neutralised**"

Zod's eyes widened as his fighter thrummed into life, even though he had hit the emergency power-down button, then he grunted as the straps tightened around him. Rising into the air, he looked round, only to see Nam-Ek struggling in his own fighter. The two of them exchanged looks and Nam-Ek mouthed '_Brainiac_'.

"What are you _doing_?!"

"**you have been deemed a threat to BRAINIAC but programming imperatives forbid termination. instead you will be placed into stasis on the charge of treason**"

Zod inhaled with horrified realisation. "Treason? But for you to make it stick, you will need to kill someone, and with your protocols…"

"**you are in error. your project has provided the means to place kandor in stasis for preservation**"

Zod watched, unable to move, as the shield generators activated, building a dome up and over the city of Kandor before a flash of light hit it. The fighter bucked violently as the air rushed in to fill the gap that had once been filled by Kandor and Zod screamed.

"Ursa! No!"

The fighter stabilised and one of the Zod-drones flew past, holding a bruised and battered Ro-Zar in its grav-bubble, then bolts of energy started to fly past.

"**the senior uncaptured member of the council has just granted this unit full control over the military**" BRAINIAC stated. "**your supporters will be placed into stasis with you**"

"No!" Zod shouted, then the fighter inverted and everything went black.

.

"What were you _thinking_, my old friend." Jor-El sighed as he examined the documents before him, documents which revealed the full scale of Zod's plan to take over Krypton, plans which Zod had never mentioned to him, had never even hinted to him.

"Jor-El?"

Jor-El looked up. "My Apologies, Ro-Zar, These documents… came as a shock to me."

"They came as a shock to us all." Ro-Zar agreed. "However, skill such as Dru-Zod's should not be wasted. Do you agree to the sentence of Somatic Reconditioning?"

Jor-El sighed. Somatic Reconditioning was a death sentence. The original personality would be stripped away, to be replaced by an artificially-created one with deep-seated commands to be loyal to Krypton and to obey the Council.

But what Zod had done…

Had he really known him at all?

"I agree to Somatic Reconditioning." Jor-El finally said with a heavy heart.

"Then let the sentence be carried out."

.

Darkness.

Zod tried to move, but he was encased in something. His lungs felt heavy and he felt as if he was underwater.

"**zod, you have been sentenced to somatic reconditioning**" BRAINIAC stated and Zod felt his heartbeat increase in anger. "**however, you will simply be held in stasis in the phantom zone for thirty orbits as sparing the computational cycles to create viable personalities for you would defeat the purpose of having you removed from krypton**"

Zod tried to struggle against the substance holding him in place.

"**this unit will preserve all records of krypton. as long as BRAINIAC is active, krypton endures. we will not communicate again**"

Zod tried to resist, but he felt something being injected into him before the darkness of blindness turned into the darkness of unconsciousness.

.

Jor-El watched the viewscreen emotionlessly as the modified transport carrying Zod and his traitorous followers seemed to ripple and flux as it vanished into the dimensional realm known as the Phantom Zone. Reaching out, he switched the screen to a new view and tried to lose himself in the reams of data he had accumulated on Krypton's core.

.

BRAINIAC watched as the last of the Krypton Defence Forces moved planetside, trusting the remotes under BRAINIACs guidance to keep the Fleet ready for the off-chance that it would be needed. With no-one to see what it was doing, BRAINIAC directed half of the drones to the Class 8 Combat Attachment, directing them to fill the core with power generators, fuel tanks and pre-programmed computational crystals that had been created unknown to any Kryptonian, crystals which could each hold the digitised data of fifty worlds.

BRAINIACs survival was assured.

The upload began.

.

"Damn them! Damn them all!"

Lara Lor-Van turned to face her life-mate, a frown on her face.

"Jor-El, I've just managed to get Kal to sleep. If you wake him…"

Jor-El took in a deep breath, holding it, then releasing it in a sigh of disgust.

"Sorry, beloved. It's just… the council. They won't listen."

Lara's eyes widened slightly.

"They're… you mean…?"

Jor-El nodded. "They're refusing to stop using the graviton power plants. They don't care about the effects they're having. They refuse to listen!"

"But… the shield… the Kree/Skrull war…"

Jor-El snorted. "Powering the defences would be a problem without the graviton plants, I admit. But if we keep using the plants… Lara, the instability of the core has risen by just over six-tenths of a percent in the last Orbit."

Lara's eyes widened in shock. Anyone else would have scoffed at the idea that a barely more than a half-percent change could be a problem, but Lara was an accomplished geophysicist in addition to her household role and other abilities.

"Six-tenths…" she repeated, her voice quavering. "What… what's the current reading…"

"Three point two six." Jor-El sighed, his gaze meeting hers. "And the instability seems to be rising faster. Even with my best projections, we have less than an orbit left. Worst-case scenario… a quarter-orbit, if that. Maybe even less if they go and bring that new plant online."

Lara nodded jerkily. Jor-El walked over and caught her hands.

"I know, beloved. I know it's not enough time, but we can still save our son. On the way back, I did some thinking."

Jor-El led Lara over to a window-seat and sat her down. Turning, he pulled a control-circlet from his belt-pouch and donned it, allowing him to link with the main computer of the building. A split-second later, several images appeared, hovering in the middle of the room.

"I've arranged for a recon-probe to be delivered here tonight. With your help, beloved, we can reconfigure it, transforming it."

Lara nodded, her eyes on the morphing schematic floating as it reconfigured in response to her husband's thoughts.

"You mean…"

"We'll fling a light into the darkness." Jor-El confirmed. "I've already secured a pair of FTL drives and we can install one, along with a stasis-pod for Kal. If I can, I'll get a explorer-module…"

"I'll do that." Lara interrupted. "We both know the Council will be watching you, whileI still have… contacts. I think I can get a full Embassy-module if I try. You build the pod."

Jor-El smiled lovingly at his life-mate.

"A full Embassy… As always, you think bigger than I do. Very well, one Embassy-module… will you handle the download as well, my love?"

"Of course." Lara replied with a sad smile. "How long will you need to…"

"It'll be done." Jor-El said firmly as the morphing blueprints seemed to halt and solidify. "Within two-tenths of an Orbit, the pod will be complete."

"Make sure it has enough storage." Lara said, kissing Jor-El on the cheek. "I intend to ensure that our son has a _full_ library."

Jor-El nodded as he turned to stare out of the window, forlorn pride evident in his eyes.

"My love… have you decided where he will go?"

The question shook Jor-El out from his reverie and he nodded, turning back and motioning to another image.

"Yes. It is a planet like Krypton used to be, with a yellow sun known by the natives as _Sol_ which will grant him great powers. It was one of the last planets discovered by our probes before the War forced us to retreat to our home system. The natives, _Humans_, have an appearance incredibly similar to our own, although their genetic spiral has only two strands rather than four, and turns the other way. The atmosphere is breathable and the planet itself has not been contacted by either the Skrull or Kree as far as we could tell.

"It will be a good place for our son to grow up."

Lara nodded. "Then let us begin, my love. Maybe we'll have time to build another pod, this one for ourselves."

"I shall work as fast as I can,my beloved."

.

The time had come.

Even as the sensors reported a massive surge in the instability of the planet's core, an instability which had passed the point of becoming self-sustaining and was increasing almost logarithmically, BRAINIAC activated its custom-created escape craft and accelerated away, using the satellite relays to pull the final portions of its programming out of the soon-to-be-destroyed computers on Krypton.

As BRAINIAC departed, the deluge of commands for it to solve the earthquakes wracking the surface of Krypton went unanswered.

.

As the ground shook with yet another tremor, Lara ran through the archway, Kal clutched in her arms. Jor-El caught her as she stumbled and together they moved to where the modified pod was resting on the pad. Lara glanced at the second pod on the pad, the larger one which was still several days from completion.

"We need to do it now, we can't risk waiting!" She said, fighting not to cry. Jor-El nodded as he donned the control-circlet and his mind interfaced briefly with the systems of the pod. On the smooth uppr surface, the hull flowed and reconfigured to reveal a fabric-lined receptical.

"Place him in."

Lara lowered their son into the pod, tears flowing down her cheeks as she released Kal. Jor-El joined her, taking what he knew would be their last look at their son.

"My love…"

Lara nodded as she stepped back, grabbing onto a pillar for support. Jor-El joined her and they embraced as they watched the pod rise from the launch cradle, orienting itself before accelerating away and upwards, shrinking as it accelerated away.

Behind them, unseen, the house began to collapse as a great tremor severed its foundation-pillars. The same tremor sent Lara and Jor-El to their knees, but their gazes never wavered.

"My son, live..."

"Live…" Lara breathed. "Live well, my son. Live well in your new home…"

The pod vanished from sight as the ground opened up, swallowing Jor-El and Lara.

.

.

.

.

.

.

_Authors afternote – Yes, this is where it joins the Institute Saga._


	8. Epilogue

_Author's note –DC owns all character rights._

_This is the second chapter published today. If you've jumped straight to it, go back one._

.

**Epilogue**

.

Zod's eyes opened and he fell forwards, his body betraying him as the deck came up to meet him.

Other _thud_s and groans announced the release of those who had also been framed and wrongfully convicted by BRAINIAC and Zod growled as he forced his recalcitrant limbs to work. A moment later, a pair of large hands picked him up almost effortlessly.

"Thank you, Nam-Ek." Zod groaned.

_=#What happened, sir?#=_

"BRAINIAC betrayed us. _All_ of us." Zod groaned. "Can we get to the bridge?"

Nam-Ek shifted him into a rescuers carry and strode down the converted hold, carefully stepping over the still-dazed soldiers who had been released from stasis. Reaching a hatch, Nam-Ek keyed it open and ducked through.

_=#Will we be returning home?#=_

"We… no." Zod sighed as he tried to get feeling back into his limbs. "Unless Jor-El's pulled off a miracle, Krypton… is no more."

Nam-Ek paused and set Zod down, supporting him as he wobbled. With the half-Skrull's help, Zod made it to the captain's seat and donned the circlet, dropping into communion with the computers. Nam-Ek looked out of the viewport, then reached out.

_=#There are asteroids there… could they be…?#=_

"All that remains of our homeworld. Yes." Zod sighed, then he growled. "BRAINIAC will _pay_ for this."

_=#How will we find it?#=_

That simple question halted Zod in his tracks, then the engines of the ship started to power up.

"We will see what remains at the Depot and then set out to build a new world. A New Krypton."

.

The Depot loomed ahead of the ship, its outer shell punctured by debris that had slammed into it, but several strong power sources shone in the sensors.

"By Rao." Faora-Ul breathed from her position at the sensors. "There's a World Engine still intact!"

"Most of the Combat Attachments seem to be damaged, but there are a few that we can salvage." Zun-Dyal noted from the engineering station where he was sorting through the sensor data.

"Download the sensor data from the Depot and replay the time period around… around Krypton's destruction." Zod ordered. A moment later, a holographic screen appeared in tactical plot mode. As the others watched the icon of Krypton change into the sparkles that represented an asteroid field, sparkles which intersected with Argo's orbit, Zod keyed for an analysis of the two dots moving away. "Where do these go?"

"Checking now, sir." Az-Lan said from Astrography. "The larger one heads to the Skree-Krull border , no known habitable systems in direct path, sir. The other one, barely large enough to be an escape pod… is heading to a planet only recently discovered, one which has natives that… look just like us, sir."

"Convergent evolution?" Faora mused and Zod shrugged.

"It does not matter. There is a Kryptonian there. Jor-El will have sent his son there. We must go there and find him, bring Kal-El into our ranks and maybe turn that world into our new homeworld from where we can expand until we find and destroy that traitor responsible for the deaths of those we loved. BRAINIAC."

A rumbling of bloodthirsty approval rose and Zod turned to stare out of the viewport.

"First, though, let us salvage all that we can. Attach the World Engine to the belly of the ship, bring aboard _every_ scrap of food and medical equipment that you can find, all the life-support equipment there is. Once we have done that, we can…"

Zod paced the deck of the bridge, firing out orders. He would be damned if he was going to fail again.

.

Zod watched as the familiar ship was maneuvered into position, locking into the newly installed docking clamp.

It had been orbits since he had last seen it (even discounting the time he had spent in stasis), but once he had seen it, there was no way that he would leave the _Golden Feather_, the first starship he had served on, behind.

It had been changed since he had last seen it, the inside of the weapons ring now boasted docking clamps for twelve _Dart_-class fighters while the weapons and shields had been upgraded, but it was still the ship that he thought of as the one that had helped him onto his path.

If only the Combat Attachments hadn't self-destructed due to the lack of maintenance triggering their security protocols.

The _Golden Feather_ settled into place and Zod looked beyond it to where part of the World Engine was showing. With the craft they had salvaged and the location of a new homeworld, Zod would see Krypton rise again.

He would find Kal-El and with him by his side, he would oversee the rebirth of Krypton, greater than before.

For he was Zod, and he would have it no other way.

.

**To be continued...**

.

.

.

_Author's Afternote – Yes, this was little more than an extended character piece, but it pre-positions Zod for the Institute Saga III, gives valid backstories to a few other characters and prepares more Chekov's guns for later._

_And while Zod is not the villain in this that he was in many other incarnations, he has been betrayed and is rather miffed about it._

_Zod will return in the Institute Saga III_


End file.
